Barcelona, French City Get `92 Games

October 18, 1986|By Tom Netter, Special to The Tribune.

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND — The International Olympic Committee voted Friday to bring the Games back to Europe in 1992, awarding the summer event to Barcelona, Spain, and the winter event to Albertville, France.

The voting by the IOC`s 85 delegates concluded five days of frenzied lobbying, receptions and arm-twisting and two years of intense public relations by 13 cities. The field represented a record number of candidates and spent an estimated total of $100 million.

Barcelona won easily, with 47 votes on the third ballot. Paris was second with 23. Four other cities--Amsterdam; Birmingham, England; Brisbane and Belgrade--were in the running.

Albertville, a town of 18,000 in the Haute-Savoie Alps of eastern France, had 51 votes in the sixth round. Sofia, Bulgaria, was second among the seven bidders with 25 votes. Anchorage was eliminated in the second round of voting. Other cities that had bid for the Winter Games were Berchtesgaden, West Germany; Cortina d`Ampezzo, Italy; Lillehammer, Norway; and Falun, Sweden.

Key elements favoring the winning cities were seen as organization, telecommunications, climate and economic conditions. But for Barcelona, the deciding factor seemed to be its determination to have the Games.

``Barcelona is a town with an Olympic vocation and had already asked for the right to stage the Games four times,`` said IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, a native of the Spanish port city, who said he didn`t vote or try to sway the outcome. ``I`m sure they`ll be able to arrange a great Olympic Games.``

At the Albertville display in the Palais de Beaulieu, members of the city`s organizing committee popped champagne corks and toasted committee vice president and former skiing star Jean-Claude Killy, a triple gold-medalist in the 1968 Games.

``Have you seen the ski areas that we`ve got? Have you seen the image that we`ve given ourselves over the past years?`` asked a committee member when asked how Albertville had won the right to stage the 1992 Winter Games.

``And snow conditions are fabulous. I think the members of the IOC understood that.``

The decision brought the Games back to Europe from the far-flung points of Seoul and Calgary, Alberta, where they will be held in 1988. IOC officials said this was among the factors in the five hours of deliberations.

It was a sharp disappointment for Paris. French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, who is also the mayor of Paris, had pressed the Parisian case. The delegation cleared its dis-play stand quickly, leaving the Barcelona contingent to celebrate with drinks and toasts.

Contradicting earlier statements that Paris` bid was only for 1992, the centenary of the appeal by France`s Baron Pierre de Coubertin for the ancient Games to be revived, Chirac said he supported the idea of Paris` bidding for the 1996 Games. That year, he noted, is the centenary of the first revived Olympics.

Delegates from Amsterdam spoke bitterly about a Dutch demonstrator who had staged several noisy protests outside the conference center. IOC officials and committee sources said such protests, emotional appeals and Tuesday`s car bomb attack in Barcelona that killed a policeman were ultimately less important than practical considerations, such as media and housing facilities and proximity of locations.

``It was a very difficult choice,`` one IOC official said. ``More security was a big factor, but didn`t, for example, prevent them from voting for Barcelona because one incident was not seen as a trend.``

Barcelona officials concurred that terrorist bombings were, in their view, unusual for the Catulan capital. ``Barcelona is a very quiet city. No one has been injured or killed in 10 years,`` said delegation vice president Leopardo Rodes, apparently forgetting Tuesday`s bombing. ``But of course we will take all the measures necessary.``

One delegation source said Barcelona had presented an impressive organizational plan, including its experience with major sports events such as the World Cup.

``We feel extremely happy and proud to receive this nomination,``

Barcelona Mayor Pasquale Maragall said. ``For 34 years, we have been aiming toward this moment.``

De Coubertin promised Barcelona the 1924 Games, but then chose Paris. He later suggested Barcelona would be the 1936 host, but Spain was on the verge of civil war and the event was staged in Berlin. Then, in 1966, a combined Barcelona-Madrid bid for the 1972 Olympics was defeated by Munich.

Anchorage organizers said they had agreed to reapply for the 1994 Winter Games, the first to be held in a new cycle that will alternate the Winter and Summer Games every two years.

``Awarding the Summer Games to Barcelona gives them to the only major European country that hasn`t hosted them before,`` a delegate said. ``In a way, it reflects the renewed status of Europe: a new site for the traditional home of the Winter Games in France; the newness of democracy and openness of Spain. Those were key elements.``